A new year

A new calendar year is approaching. As a druid though I have already started my new year at the time of the winter solstice when the light returned. But the calendar new year is also important. This coming year is also the start of a new decade.

2020 is coming. I am very interested in numbers and see 2020 as very important. It is the start of something new that will make people more aware of the way they live and the environment around them. People will I hope start to treat those around them with respect and love, caring for those less fortunate. I hope they will learn that everything is connected and whatever you do, say or think, has an effect somewhere else.

What do I hope for this coming year of 2020? I already feel energised especially since I noticed the shoots of the spring bulbs appearing in their pots and the new buds on the shrubs and trees. They give me hope. The natural world seems to continue on its way whatever we do to it. When forests are cut down it is not long before other plants start to germinate. Life is always there.

Floods and fires continue to cleanse the land clearing away unwanted energies from logging and the wrong ways of farming and other agriculture. Floods and fires also tell us that we are not looking after the land in the right way. But back to my thoughts and plans for this new decade of opportunities. 2020 gives us 365 days of opportunity. What are you going to do? I am going to live each day wisely and continue with my creative work as well as making sure I help others when needed. I shall also be looking after the plants and visitors to my garden. I shall be outside in nature as often as I can helping me to stay healthy both physically and mentally. I shall try to eat in a healthier way being aware of how my food is grown and produced. I shall also look at what I wear and how I furnish my home. Can I change anything here to make it more natural?

So what will you do in 2020? I hope you can spread peace and love around the world as well as hope for us all.

The Light returns

The Winter Solstice is here and the light is returning. I struggle with the dark days we have had recently and artificial light does not help. However I am starting to feel more energetic after a very bad cough and can feel my creative juices starting to flow again. I have so many new projects to start soon but need to get organised first.

This time of the year gives me hope, for the planet, for humankind and for everything that lives on our planet. Climate change is causing devastation in many places with large fires in Australia and floods in Britain and elsewhere. Here the farmers have not been able to sow the winter grain crops so there will be shortages later next year. We as a human race, have to look at how we live and eat and how we treat the land around us. Building new houses on flood plains is not a good idea but it is still happening.

Every one of us has to take a look at how we live. I know there are some places where people do not want to do this but we must do what we can. Do we want a good life for our grandchildren? Or do we want food shortages and no place to live for them?

But most of all we need to work together, to trust each other, to help each other in as many ways as possible. We need to take care of the vulnerable people in our society. We need to respect the beliefs of others whether they be Christian, Muslim or other faiths. We are all equal in the eyes of the Divine and we all share a part of that Divine.

So as the light returns, look at what you can do in your own life and in helping others. I send you love and peace and the blessings of the Solstice.

Dealing with disappointment

I have been working on the words for this blog since Friday and hope that my words will help some of those who are feeling let-down and disappointed after the recent election in the UK. (although this can apply to other situations) First of all, it has happened and it is done and cannot be changed so acceptance is the first thing. Getting angry is no good either as that only hurts you and no-one else. So try to accept what has happened. I have heard some people gloating but that does not say much for them. Gloating over someones else’s misfortune is not good and shows a shallow personality. Ignore these people.

Next sit down and look inside yourself. Have you changed or are you still the same person? Are you still compassionate and caring for those less able, are you still loving your family as before, are you still aware that we are all connected? Whatever our colour or political beliefs we are all members of the human race. We come from the same source and we all have a spark of the divine within us. Find that spark and allow it to help you through the next days and maybe years. There is much for us to do if we are going to eventually get the change that the world needs. We have to care for others, look out for those needing our love and help and most of all we have to look after ourselves. If we are angry and frustrated then we won’t get anything done as we will be trying to do it while in the wrong frame of mind.

I believe there is a larger plan out there and often it takes time for the real plan and the truth to come out. Over the last few years you may have noticed that hidden things are coming to light much quicker than they did in the past. It is harder for those in government and high places to get away with wrongdoing. Have hope that all will be well in the end but we will have to work to get there. Success built on lies will always founder and the truth will come out.

Take heart, care for each other and those less fortunate, speak your truth and stay calm and centred. I send you all love and peace and the blessings of our Mother Earth.

But words can never hurt me?

The title above is taken from the saying ‘sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me’. When I was a child and fell out with a friend or one of them was nasty to me, I remember all I got from my mother was that saying, and I was sent back out to play. But words do hurt and in some cases hurt so much that they drive a person to suicide.

Children can be very nasty to each other. Before the days of mobile phones, it was talking behind you back and name calling as you went by. Some parents were also guilty of saying things that hurt like ‘you’re useless’. If you are repeatedly told that you are useless, ugly or fat, then you start to believe that and think that way about yourself. This can last for many years as the hurtful words are remembered every day and they can build up into depression or hiding away from people so they don’t hurt you.

As a baby I had a mole or some kind of growth removed from my face. This left a brownish ridged scar. I got asked lots of questions about it and one teacher even complained my face was dirty in front of the whole class and sent me out to wash my face. My mother had to intervene and explain why my face looked dirty. Over the years I mainly forgot about the scar although as a teenager and persuaded by my mother I tried to cover it with make up. Not a good idea. However I have lived with it for over 70 years now and although my mother asked me before she died why I hadn’t done anything about it as it could have been made less conspicuous I didn’t really want to know.

Words do hurt and can continue to hurt for a long time. Words said in anger often hurt the worst and then it is harder to forget them. Some people never forget those hurtful words, whatever they are and the hurt gnaws away at their insides, making them ill. From my work with Reiki I understand how these hurts work in the body and how we carry them around like baggage. If we want to lead a good healthy life then we have to deal with that baggage and that can be very hard to do. Dealing with all those hurts means that you have to forgive those who said or did the hurts. This is where many come unstuck with dealing with their baggage. I don’t want to go into how to deal with the baggage here so I will finish by just saying ‘Words do hurt’ Think before you speak or as someone once said to me ‘engage brain before opening mouth’.

Standing back

There are many times in a lifetime when you have to stand back and let things go on without your influence.. It is hard to do but I feel it is sometimes essential to stand back and not interfere or say things you might regret later. A couple of weeks ago I was standing in the bus shelter with various other people. A man came along and joined us then started to say how wonderful our prime minister was and how those on benefits or homeless should get a job and stop being idle. My first reaction was to move forward ready to defend those less well-off than myself but something stopped me. There was no response from those standing in the bus shelter either.

So where is this leading me? I could have put my point of view to this man but I could see that he would not listen anyway. There are many like him who are cosy in their own world and do not see what is happening in the world around them. It is easy to become homeless through no fault of your own. You may be made redundant and be unable to pay your rent or mortgage and then end up living on the street. It almost happened to me some years ago when I was told to leave my rented house as the owner wanted it back. This came after repeated complaints from me about a leaking roof so now I am careful about the number of complaints I make about my rented accommodation.

So if I had got in an argument with this man it would not have helped. I hope that we can all read between the lines, as it were, and see the truth about what is going on around us. We should be able to discern what is true and what is fake or just pure lies. Staying true to your own beliefs is important but I hope those beliefs include compassion for those who are vulnerable and need help as well. Standing back is not always the right thing to do but it can help you to see the bigger picture and help you to realise when to stand back or when to say something or interfere. If people had not interfered this last Friday then more people might have been injured or died when a man attacked others with a knife in London. Sometimes it is easy to know what to do especially in an emergency.

I know when to say things to others to try to open their eyes to what is going on around them but I can also see when they are brainwashed into their thinking and unlikely to change or even listen to what I have to say. Sometimes it is better to do nothing and stand back but on the other hand it is sometimes easy to know when to do something. Being a peace loving druid with compassion for others can bring its own challenges!